Japan is one of the top donors to the UN refugee agency and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a series of actions, including the provision of $2.8 billion to refugees and hosting communities, at the Leaders’ Summit in New York in September 2016. Despite this significant financial commitment, the nation’s refugee acceptance rate is very low.

Of 3,898 asylum claims processed in Japan last year, only 27 (less than 1 percent) were recognized as refugees. This figure included eight asylum seekers who appealed the government’s decision not to accept their claim in previous years. Add to this the 79 people who were granted special status to stay in Japan on humanitarian grounds, and the total reaches just over 100.

Refugees are able to work without restriction. But asylum seekers can only work if they sought asylum while staying in Japan legally.

People who seek asylum after their travel documents have expired are taken to an immigration detention center. Some may be provisionally released or be permitted to stay outside the center, but they are still unable to work.

Civil Society Steps in

In light of the institutional constraints facing refugees and asylum seekers, Japanese civil society and businesses are gradually moving to help refugees gain acceptance, by assisting them in setting up their own business.

The types of projects ESPRE has financed range from food services to trading businesses. For instance, a Burmese former university lecturer, who sought asylum in Japan and has lived in the country for over 20 years, opened a Myanmar restaurant in Tokyo with ESPRE’s support in 2012.

And Vietnamese refugee Minami Masakazu, who left home as a teenager, was similarly helped to open a now popular Vietnamese restaurant in the city. ESPRE has also helped a Pakistani entrepreneur who runs a trading company to export used Japanese cars. His business began targeting the Mozambican market and has now expanded to other countries.

Corporations also seem to like the idea of helping refugees through entrepreneurship. Uber Japan, for instance, launched a campaign in 2014 for its customers to donate to ESPRE and an anonymous tax accountancy provides pro bono services to refugee entrepreneurs, according to ESPRE’s director, Masaru Yoshiyama.

In the first place, it empowers refugees. It’s easy for people to feel helpless and lose confidence if they have to rely on government allowances. These people can regain their autonomy and confidence by managing a business, earning money, and engaging with their host community as a contributor.

Organisations such as ESPRE don’t only help refugees by financing projects but also by lowering the language barrier, for which Japan is notorious. To this end, ESPRE holds English-language orientation sessions where business consultants and accountants explain how to run a business in the country.

What’s more, refugees’ engagement in self-generating economic activities can change the public perception that they’re a “societal burden.” This lessens negative public sentiment toward refugees.

Remaining Challenges

Despite these benefits, a number of barriers remain for facilitating refugee entrepreneurship in Japan.

The first is a lack of resources. Unlike countries where the number of refugees is large and the infrastructure to support refugee entrepreneurs (or minority entrepreneurs more broadly) has already been set up, efforts in Japan are still in early stages, and personnel and financial capacity is limited.

ESPRE director Yoshiyama has told me that this has hindered the setting up of a more organized process of assistance, from assessment of business proposals to support for implemented projects.

Institutional inflexibility is also a hurdle. Asylum seekers can only work under strict conditions. And the rules are made under the assumption that they work as an employee rather than as an employer, or being self-employed. This can create unnecessary misunderstanding and add to their administrative burden as officials may not give them approval to set up a new business.

A fundamental challenge in Japan, in particular, is the low visibility of refugees and undocumented migrant workers. Though the recent refugee crisis has drastically raised public awareness, the issue is still perceived in Japan as something happening somewhere outside the country. This perception doesn’t help improve the situation for refugee entrepreneurs.

Last but not least, we should bear in mind that refugee entrepreneurship is not a panacea. Many refugees are minors and vulnerable people, who may not be able to engage in economic activity. Refugee entrepreneurship should rather be regarded as an – excellent – alternative for helping refugees gain autonomy and become integrated in their host country.

Satoko Horii is an assistant professor at Akita International University.